Tonino Gottarelli

Art Brokerage: Tonino Gottarelli Italian Artist: b. 1920-2007. Tonino Gottarelli was born in 1920 in a little street in the centre of Imola, which was to have a strong influence on his way of life. He started to teach history and geography at a middle school, until his interests moved into the field of child psychology and he became an elementary school teacher in the outlying areas of the Imola district. He wrote and painted continually. His first solo exhibition of paintings was held in Faenza in 1960. This was followed in 1966 by a more mature exhibition in Paris, which led to an invitation to the "Salone di Maggio". His love of nature prompted him to move around continuously, from one house to another, until he finally settled in the Pediano area of Imola, where he stayed for almost 15 years, in a very isolated house where he attempted to breed horses. He then started to write a collection of philosophical/love letters, in the form of a diary, which he published much later, at the end of 1981, with the title "Lettere Inutili". His philosophy and poetry acquired a new depth, and his passions achieved an echo of an existential dimension, the profound, continual tension of his state of mind, in this prose. This was the year that Gottarelli moved from the country into the city, to Via Spaventa. However, his thoughts and poetry were not disturbed, but acquired an inner strength that differed from his impressionistic works. Continuing his artistic ambivalence with the same fervor, he achieved equally important results and one could say that his poetry is "talking paintings" and his paintings "silent poetry". Tonino Gottarelli died February 20, 2007. Original painting wanted.